Vettriano retrospective confirmed as most popular art exhibition held at Kelvingrove

Artist 'astonished' as show proves more popular than Van Gogh and the Glasgow
Boys

The success of the retrospective is testament to the huge popularity of Vettriano’s often erotically charged workPhoto: REX/ANITA RUSSO

2:51PM GMT 19 Feb 2014

Jack Vettriano said he was “astonished and very flattered” to be told that his retrospective had become the most popular show staged at Glasgow’s leading art gallery.

The 100 works in the exhibition have already attracted more than 123,000 visitors to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, breaking the previous record of 120,000 for The Glasgow Boys in 2010.

There was a 30-minute queue for tickets on Wednesday, and the figure will rise further before the show closes on Sunday. Until the Glasgow Boys event, the previous record was 103,000 visitors for a Van Gogh show in 1948.

The retrospective is thought to be the most popular exhibition of any Scottish artist north of the border, but will not beat figure set by a Monet show at the Scottish National Gallery in 2003 that attracted 173,000 visitors.

The success of the retrospective is testament to the huge popularity of Vettriano’s often erotically charged work, which for many years has been snubbed by the art establishment in Scotland.

The artist, who spent two hours signing books at Kelvingrove last Saturday, said: “I was astonished and very flattered to find out that my retrospective exhibition has received a record-breaking number of visitors.

“From the very outset, I have been treated with enormous warmth and appreciation by the management and staff of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and I am deeply touched to hear that their enthusiasm has been echoed by so many of the visitors to my exhibition, during its five month run.

“I am also hugely indebted to the collectors of my work, who so generously loaned their paintings for this retrospective. Exhibiting in such majestic surroundings as Kelvingrove has been a great honour.”

There are still no Vettriano works in Scotland’s major public collections, although the National Portrait Gallery temporarily displayed his self-portrait, The Weight. Last year, the artist Grayson Perry, known for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing, called Vettriano's work “illustrational nostalgic porn book covers”.

But the Scot remains Britain’s most popular artist, outselling Monet and Van Gogh, and could be forgiven for laughing all the way to the bank.

His most famous work, The Singing Butler, sold for £744,000 in 2004, and he is thought to earn a similar figure from royalties every year. Meanwhile, his growing list of famous collectors includes Jack Nicholson, Sir Terence Conran and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Archie Graham, chairman of Glasgow Life, which runs Kelvingrove, said: “From the beginning we knew the Jack Vettriano Retrospective was going to be popular. The response has been nothing short of phenomenal and confirms the public's affection for the artist and his works.”

The paintings on show are all on loan from private collections, with some being seen in public for the first time in almost 20 years.